Anchoritic Traditions of Medieval Europe

Erscheinungsjahr 2010
ISBN: 978-1-84383-520-2
Verlag: Boydell and Brewer

Buch, Englisch, 256 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 236 mm x 157 mm, Gewicht: 476 g

An examination of the growth and different varieties of anchoritism throughout medieval Europe.

The practice of anchoritism - religious enclosure which was frequently solitary and voluntarily embraced, very often in a permanent capacity - was widespread in many areas of Europe throughout the middle ages. Originating in the desert withdrawal of the earliest Christians and prefiguring even the monastic life, anchoritism developed into an elite vocation which was popular amongst both men and women. Within this reclusive vocation, the anchorite would withdraw, either alone or with others like her or him, to a small cell or building, very frequently attached to a church or other religious institution, where she or he would - theoretically at least - remain locked up until death. In the later period it was a vocation which was particularly associated with pious laywomen who appear to have opted for this extreme way of life in their thousands throughout western Europe, often as an alternative to marriage orremarriage, allowing them, instead, to undertake the role of "living saint" within the community.
This volume brings together for the first time in English much of the most important European scholarship on the subject to date. Tracing the vocation's origins from the Egyptian deserts of early Christian activity through to its multiple expressions in western Europe, it also identifies some of those regions - Wales and Scotland, for example - where thephenomenon does not appear to have been as widespread. As such, the volume provides an invaluable resource for those interested in the theories and practices of medieval anchoritism in particular, and the development of medieval religiosity more widely.

Dr LIZ HERBERT MCAVOY is Professor of Medieval Literature at Swansea University.

CONTRIBUTORS: Anneke B. Mulder-Bakker, Gabriela Signori, M. Sensi, G. Cavero Dominguez, P. L'Hermite-Leclercq, Mari Hughes-Edwards, Colman O Clabaigh, Anna McHugh, Liz Herbert McAvoy.

Autoren/Hrsg.

McAvoy, Liz Herbert

Weitere Mitwirkende

Mchugh, Anna

Mulder-Bakker, Anneke B.

McHugh, Anna

Ó Clabaigh, Colmán

Cavero Domínguez, G.

Signori, Gabriela

McAvoy, Liz Herbert

Sensi, M.

Hughes-Edwards, Mari

L'Hermite-Leclercq, P.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Europäische Länder
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionsgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction - Liz Herbert McAvoy
Anchorites in the Low Countries - Anneke B. Mulder-Bakker
Anchorites in German-speaking regions - Gabriela Signori
Anchorites in the Italian tradition - M. Sensi
Anchorites in the Spanish tradition - G. Cavero Domínguez
Anchoritism in medieval France - P. L'Hermite-Leclercq
Anchoritism: the English Tradition - Mari Hughes-Edwards
Anchorites in late medieval Ireland - Colmán Ó Clabaigh
Anchorites in medieval Scotland - Anna McHugh
Anchorites and medieval Wales - Liz Herbert McAvoy

Über Autor(innen)

McAvoy, Liz Herbert
Liz Herbert McAvoy is Professor Emerita of Medieval Literature at Swansea University, Wales, and honorary Senior Research Associate at the University of Bristol, England. She has published widely in the areas of medieval women's writing, medieval anchoritism and spirituality.

McAvoy, Liz Herbert
Liz Herbert McAvoy is Professor Emerita of Medieval Literature at Swansea University, Wales, and honorary Senior Research Associate at the University of Bristol, England. She has published widely in the areas of medieval women's writing, medieval anchoritism and spirituality.